Posts from August 2014

Posts from August 2014

Prayers for diocese from Bermuda

The bishop’s office received a postcard from the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity of the Anglican Church of Bermuda, informing him that “at the Eucharist in the Cathedral today we prayed for the life and witness of the Diocese of Fort Worth on 19th August 2014.”  The prayers were a result of the Diocese of Fort Worth being part of the Anglican Cycle of Prayer. The card was signed by the celebrant, the Rt. Rev. Nicholas B. B. Dill,…

Bishop High sets guidelines for Covenant Blessings

On Tuesday, August 19, 2014, the Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., bishop of Fort Worth, sent a letter to the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth setting out guidelines for the blessing of covenant relationships between people of the same sex. He did so to offer pastoral guidance to the priests of the diocese to enable them to offer “a generous pastoral response” to members of their congregations. His action comes after two years of prayer, thoughtful…

Bishop High’s Letter on Covenant Blessings

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I write you all to follow up on a promise I made at our June “Common Call” clergy gathering.  At that meeting, I shared with you all my prayerful deliberations on how we should move forward as a diocese regarding the covenant blessing, which was initiated at our General Convention 2012, and I promised to offer guidelines for you and the congregations we serve. As I have come to know…

St. Martin shows up for ribbon cutting

St. Martin himself showed up for a celebratory ribbon cutting at St. Martin’s Episcopal School at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Keller, on Thursday, August 28, 2014. Members of the Greater Keller Chamber of Commerce also joined the crowd of parishioners, children, and guests. See the story and more photos here.

New book of daily prayers – ‘Daily Prayer for All Seasons’

A new book of daily prayers developed by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of The Episcopal Church is now available. Episcopal News Service announced Daily Prayer for all Seasons, “a daily office for the 21st century,” suitable for individuals, small groups, and congregations. This prayer book offers much for a daily prayer discipline, including a variety of images of God, inclusive and expansive language for and about God, and a rich variety of language, including poetry, meditation, and prayers from the broader…

Episcopalians invited to respond to Status of Women questionnaire

The Office of Public Affairs of The Episcopal Church has invited responses to the 2015 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The news release is below: [August 12, 2014] Input is requested from members of The Episcopal Church for a questionnaire that will form the foundation of the church’s presence and participation at the 2015 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) meeting, March 9-20, 2015. The questionnaire is located here. In 2015, UNCSW will undertake a…

Constable Fund grants application process open

The Office of Public Affairs of The Episcopal Church has announced that the application process is now open for Constable Fund grants for the 2014-2015 cycle. Applications can be submitted by a programmatic office of the DFMS, one of the General Convention CCABs (committee/commission/agency/board), or one of the Provinces of the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is in Province VII. The deadline is November 1, 2014. The release is below: The Constable Fund provides grants to fund mission initiatives…

Anglican Cycle of Prayer includes Diocese on August 19, 2014

Bishop Rayford B. HIgh, Jr., received this email from Lambeth Palace, office and official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Friday, August 15. ———— Dear Bishop, Warm greetings from Lambeth Palace in London. This is to let you know that on Tuesday, you will be prayed for at Lambeth Palace as well as by many other people using the Anglican Cycle of Prayer produced by the Anglican Communion Office. We will be praying for you, your work and your diocese.…

The Episcopal Church responds in Ferguson, Mo.

On Thursday, August 14, the Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church Center in New York City, wrote to the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church about how church staff and Episcopal congregations are responding to the situation in Ferguson, Mo., in the aftermath of a police shooting of an unarmed man. Circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation. News outlets report that the governor of Missouri has ordered the Missouri Highway Patrol to take…

Packing lunches, touching lives

On the second Sunday of every month, teens and parents gather at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Keller, to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and put together a complete lunch (water bottle, sandwich, chips, protein bar, and dessert) for the homeless people being served by the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County. Union Gospel Mission’s goal is to end homelessness.The goal of the Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) of St. Martin’s is to make 70-100 sack lunches to help feed them.The first…

Steinke resources offered free

Did you miss Peter Steinke’s April and June workshops here in the Diocese of Fort Worth? Does your congregation need help finding its way through anxious times? Steinke’s DVD When Anxiety Strikes and his book How Your Church Family Works are both available through the diocesan office for use in your congregation.

Judge Mollee Westfall featured in news story

State District Judge Mollee Westfall, member of All Saints Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, is featured in a front page article of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thursday, August 7, 2014 edition. The story is about two programs Judge Westfall administers that offer a new approach to probation – SWIFT, or Supervision With Intensive enForcemenT, and HOPE or Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program. The story reports that “SWIFT was launched in September…

ERD helping victims of Ebola epidemic

The fact that Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, one of the Americans infected with the Ebola virus, trained as a resident at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth and worshiped at Southside Church of Christ on Hemphill Street when he lived here has raised local awareness of the terrible toll the virus is taking in Africa. Newscasts in the United States have tended to focus on the plight of the two Americans. But hundreds of Africans also have been affected. Episcopal Relief…
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